The purchase of deadly drugs in Germany is forbidden, but the court found that the right of self-determination meant there should be exceptions for extreme cases “if, because of their intolerable life situation, they had freely and seriously decided to end their lives” and if there were no palliative-medical alternatives.

The German Foundation for the Protection of Patients opposed the decision, DW news reported. The Foundation said

the judgment was “a blow to the cause of suicide prevention in Germany.” Board member Eugen Brysch said the definition of “what an intolerable condition of suffering is remains open.” Suffering is “neither objectively measurable nor legally universally defined.”

In November 2015 the German Bundestag passed a law that banned assisted suicides performed by commercial groups (groups that provide assisted suicide for a fee).

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